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PR's WGB 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf

PR's WGB 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf

This is a sourdough version of Peter Reinhart's 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf from his book: Whole grain breads. I spiked it by 2.25 Teaspoons of instant yeast.

The crust was soft due to the presence of Milk, and butter, but the crumb was light soft, and even textured.

I used only Waitrose Organic Strong bread flour with 13.9g of protein. I also baked this bread under a pyrex cover in a grill oven, 30 min. covered, and 15 minutes uncovered.

The taste, well, it was somewhat salty (I HAVE TO STOP USEING SEA SALT! i can't figure out how much is enough in a formula(in this bread it was somewhat salty coz i doubled the amount of salt, knowing that sea salt isn't as efficient as refined salt.) It had a faint acidic taste from the levain (50% of the total dough weight), but was pleasant overall.

Another thing: Never take shortcuts with wholegrains, as this will adversely effect the resulting flavor. I didn't prepare a soaker with a pinch of salt (spong), so no sweetness to there to counteract the excess salt or the sourdough acid.

Comments

I have not yet tried PR's whole wheat, although I have tried his light whole wheat quite a few times, also his rosemary potato loaf and multigrain bread extraordinaire. They all turned out well except I found them rather 'doughy'. I have been baking bread for a long time although I don't consider myself an expert, but am perplexed as to why this is happening with PR recipes. Can anyone shed some light on the problem? I'm sure the problem lies with me and not with PR's recipes as he has such a good reputation.

Fabulous looking loaf! Try using salt by weight: 1.75% of the flour weight. The coarseness of the salt affects density, and density determines weight. So using a scale is a must. A small 100 gram digital scale can be found online for $20 for lighter ingredients like yeast or salt or seeds. A larger digital of several pounds may be great for scaling dough, but not likely as accurate as a 100gr scale if you only need 7 grams of salt (1.5 lb loaf at 70% hydration at 1.75% salt = 7 grams)

Other postings have talked of how a given weight of table salt weighs twice as much as the same weight of flaked Kosher salt given the former has crystal sizes that are about half the size, thus more dense and resulting in twice as much by weight for any given volume. One tbs of table salt weighs 18.3 grams, and one tbs of flaked Kosher salt weighs 9.1 grams (USDA food equivalents).

If you are using what sounds like a wonderful and special salt and especially if there is not uniformity in the crystal size, methinks a scale is the only way to nail it. Good luck!!

Lindt makes 3.5 oz chocolate bars in a variety of flavors (3.5” by 7.5” by ¼” size in many supermarkets). One very hard to find flavor is "A touch of Sea Salt". They use hand harvested Fleur de Sel sea salt crystals. This blend is simply amazing, especially when you compare it side by side with some of the other flavors like "70% Dark" which is very good in its own right. Alas most stores in my area only have the basic milk, dark, Chile (awesome) so the “Touch of Salt” can be elusive…

If a special sea salt can make chocolate really dance, then I can imagine what it can do for that perfect loaf! Salt - indeed special salt as yours does add nuances that cannot be experienced any other way so you’ve convinced me to pursue this route going forward!.

Gosh, this was my favorite recipe from WGB by Reinhart. I remember making this almost four times in one week when I first received this book. I gave those loaves away but kept at it because I wanted to get down the basis of whole grain bread baking.

and the crust looks chewy and I can almost smell the wheat. Great loaf. As to the sea salt matter, I appreciated the comments from Nick because I am having a very difficult time getting the proper salt content, as well. I use sea salt and usually its the coarse variety and I've used several different brands, the latest being Ravida Azienda Agricola which is a coarse grind. Also, I'm in the process of making some of Lepard's Mill Loaf (The Art of Handmade Bread, p. 30) which calls for 2 1/2 tsp of fine sea salt. I used a mortar to pulverize the salt to a finer grind which I've never done before and I increased the quantify to 3 tsp. I tend to more salt, than less for my personal taste. So I'm very interested in seeing how these loaves will taste. But, back to your loaf, Mebake, it looks like perfection to me. Great work!

The hour was getting late and I fell a sleep on the couch. Woke up with a start and the bread was ready to bake and no preheated oven. I had no choice but to place it in a cold oven. From falling asleep I learned you can also bake up 100% whole wheat loaves in a cold oven.

Mebake---thought you might be interested in knowing how much yeast Reinhart used in his 100% whole wheat bread in ABE---1 1/2 Tbsp or 14g instant yeast, to 6 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, or 794g, and the amount of water 20 ounces, or 566g.

PR---says the dough should be fairly wet and contain a higher percentage of yeast. So this recipe has been updated and its much easier to use. He included a (Multigrain Chart) for different variations of other grains you may want to use.

My crumb was open and laced with holes, it was very light, and creamy. And the flavor enzymes that developed during the fermentation were awesome.

The loaf rose beautifully in my cold oven and I got a teriffic oven spring. I wasn't expecting such a good oven spring especially using 100% whole wheat flour. So I learned you can bake light high rising 100% whole wheat sandwich breads that are just as light as white sandwich breads and in a cold oven to boot.

Then I baked up his Everyday 100% whole wheat sandwich bread made with instant yeast, and used buttermilk. it too was awesome and very light.

The winner was the sourdough Italian 100% whole wheat bread. Used a sourdough starter, left the yeast in the recipe to see if it would lighten the whole wheat bread further, added a cooked nine grain cereal and non fat powder milk by (Bob's Red Mill). And baked up the lightest loaf of whole wheat bread ever.

Nick, thanks for your elaborate reply, my salt is a cheap sea salt, i found on a grocery isle once, nothing fancy.

And thanks jolly for your valuable info. I guess WGB book appeals to people who are indefferent to an Artisan-styled open crumbed crusty breads. There is a trade off when you try to craft a wholewheat artisanal loaf using Peter's recipes.

Hey Kneady, i hear you! i think as you bake more wholewheat, you'll get to dectate the changes you need and could easily detach yourself from Peter's measurements. I prefer to marry Jeffrey Hamelman's methodes with Peter Reinhart's theories.

Kneady, There is nothing absolute in bread baking, only facts, and once you bake from more recipes, you will eventually get to the point where you are able to judge what is your best methods and ingredients for your loaf.

Thanks for your advice, Mebake. Although I've used many different recipes, PR's have risen and had a more open crumb than any others I've used. However, I have made better tasting bread. I will start to do a little experimenting and try not to slavishly follow a recipe.

One question someone may be able to answer. I have some biga in the freezer. How do I calculate how much to use in a recipe?

PR's WGB call for 50% BIGA by weight (half of the dough is fermented in the fridge). and i hope you mean fridge when you said freezer, coz freezing a Biga might stall it for quite a long time, or even render it useless.

Your BIGA must also contain very little yeast or levain, or else you will have reduce from 50% to 30% (coz the dough will be overly fermented).

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